Category: Utagawa Hiroshige

“Hakone, the view of Ashinoko Lake” from Fifty-Three Stages on the Tokaido It is a masterpiece Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858)‘s artworks painted by a combination of various colors and unusual shapes of Mt Hakone. The ancient Japanese people called Hakone Pass as “The most precipitous in the country, the abyssal ravine”. Hiroshige drew the overflowing mountain with the overwhelming sense of volume, which express the difficulty to cross the pass. On the lower right, the Daimyo’s procession goes down the narrow and steep slope in a row. With colors like a mosaic, the extremely deformed Mt. Hakone stickｓ out to Lake Ashinoko with a steep gradient. We can Read more about Utagawa Hiroshige’s “Hakone, the view of Ashinoko Lake” landscape ukiyo-e print[…]

The masterpiece arts of Utagawa Hiroshige, “Fifty-Three Stages on the Tokaido” Utagawa (Ando) Hiroshige led the field of landscape printing in ukiyo-e. Especially, “Fifty-Three Stages on the Tokaido” is one of the most highly regarded woodblock printings series in Japanese art. When he started to draw the paintings around 1833, “Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji” , by the most famous ukiyo-e artist Katsushika Hokusai, depicted the Japanese symbolic mountain was had dominated ukiyo-e market. Thanks in partly to the popularity of the landscape printings, “Fifty-Three Stages on the Tokaido” really rang the bell and he became the sought-after artist in Edo Period. Read more about All ’53 Stages on the Tokaido’ art prints by Utagawa Hiroshige is here[…]

Plum Estate, Kameido from “One Hundred Famous Views of Edo” woodblock prints As if the blooming plum flowers gave out the fragrance for us. It is one of the ukiyo-e series of “One Hundred Famous Views of Edo” by Utagawa (Ando) Hiroshige (1797-1858). The Plum Estate in Kameido was the vacation house of the wealthy merchant Iseya Hikoemon. About 300 plum trees bloom every February. But it is already impossible to see the spectacular scene. Because the flood in 1910 made all trees dead and the estate was closed. Among them, there was especially famous plum tree in the garden. It was “Ryugabai” (龍臥梅). Tokugawa Mitsukuni (1628-1701), the second feudal lord of Read more about Plum garden ukiyo-e art woodblock print by Utagawa Hiroshige[…]

Awa, Naruto Whirlpool from “Famous Views of the Sixty-odd Provinces” The swirling currents beat the angular rocks and splash water about. As if the whirlpool swallows up those who look the print. It is one of the representative works of Utagawa (Ando) Hiroshige (1797-1858) who was the master‐hand at the landscape paintings in the ukiyo-e world. Hiroshige worked on the work of “Famous Views of the Sixty-odd Provinces” in his later life from 1853 to 1856. Unlike “Fifty-Three Stages on the Tokaido”, he used a vertically long screen called Tate-e (立て絵). “One Hundred Famous Views of Edo” is also the type of Tate-e. He used the vertically long rectangle effectively. We feel the depth of Read more about Utagawa Hiroshige’s whirlpool artwork ukiyo-e woodblock print[…]

“Famous Views of the Sixty-odd Provinces”(六十余州名所図会) Utagawa (Ando) Hiroshige (1797-1858) worked on the work of “Famous Views of the Sixty-odd Provinces” in his later life from 1853 to 1856. Unlike “Fifty-Three Stages on the Tokaido“, he used a vertically long screen called Tate-e(立て絵). “One Hundred Famous Views of Edo ” is also the type of Tate-e. Sponsored Links He completed this series with 69 pictures(68 old Japanese countries and Edo City) and table of contents. The series contains the famous Awa Naruto whirlpool in the part of Minamikaido. It is said Hiroshige had referred to the work of Katsushika Hokusai‘s The Great Wave off Kanagawa in drawing this picture. Also, Hokusai painted Mino ‘s Yoro Falls in ”A Read more about “Famous Views of the Sixty-odd Provinces” ukiyo-e art prints by Utagawa Hiroshige[…]

The collection of the snowy landscape of Hiroshige’s ukiyo-e Even among the many ukiyo-e artists, Utagawa Hiroshige was particularly good at landscape paintings. The snowy scene that he drew expresses a distinctive quietly. I would like to introduce 14 works of Hiroshige’s winter landscapes including Kambara, the snow in the night in “Fifty-Three Stages on the Tokaido“. Mystery of ‘Kambara, the snow in the night’ Kambara is located in Shizuoka prefecture and Kameyama is in Mie prefecture. Hiroshige visited Kambara in the summer, that the land is mild and has almost no snowfall. It is considered one of the mysteries of “Fifty-Three Stages Read more about Utagawa Hiroshige’s snowy winter scenes ukiyo-e art woodblock prints[…]

The gallery of “One Hundred Famous Views of Edo” In 1853, Utagawa(Ando) Hiroshige began to draw the new series of landscape ukiyo-e. He already held the position of pupular ukiyo-e artist by the succuess of “Fifty-Three Stages on the Tokaido“. His new work was on the theme of sights in various parts of the Edo. As its name suggests, “One Hundred Famous Views of Edo” consists of more than 100 paintings (and table of contents). And they are divided into four seasons. You could find pictures of the plum garden in the part of Spring, and Moon Pine in Autumn. Spring Summer Read more about Utagawa Hiroshige’s prints, “One Hundred Famous Views of Edo” ukiyo-e artworks[…]

Biography of Utagawa(Ando) Hiroshige(1797-1858) The outstanding ukiyo-e artist, Utagawa (Ando) Hiroshige<歌川（安藤） 広重> was born in 1797 as the son of the official fire fighter Ando Gen-emon. His landscape woodblock printings took many Edo citizens all over Japan. However, he was not from the class of tradesmen and artisans. Ando family belonged to the class of samurai. The eldest son Tokutaro(Hiroshige’s childhood name) should have succeeded his father’s job, but he really liked to draw pictures. In 1809, he lost parents and inherited the work of fire fighter to make a living when he was only 13. It is said that the atmosphere of loneliness in his ukiyo-e artworks is influenced by having Read more about Utagawa Hiroshige: biography and woodblock print artworks[…]